forgotten history

500 Silent Souls: Camp Springs Cemetery, Henry County, Alabama

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Historic fenced burial plot at Camp Springs Cemetery in Henry County, Alabama, with weathered headstones and rural Wiregrass landscape under an overcast sky.

There are places that announce themselves the moment you arrive—grand gates, bold markers, legends whispered before you even step out of the car. Camp Springs Cemetery isn’t one of those places. It sits quietly in Henry County, Alabama, surrounded by open sky and Wiregrass soil, asking nothing more than that you slow down. Nearly 500 … Read more

The Line That Shaped America: How One Man’s Telescope Drew the Southern Border

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Historical marker for Ellicott’s Observatory near the Chattahoochee River, describing Andrew Ellicott’s 1790s astronomical survey that helped establish the 31st parallel as the southern boundary of the United States.

A Wrong Turn with a Long Shadow We weren’t looking for a border. Dusty and I were trying to find a park—one she remembered visiting years ago with her mom, back when memories still came with voices attached to them. The GPS sent us to an RV resort that definitely wasn’t it. But instead of … Read more

Mission Nombre de Dios: Where America’s First Thanksgiving Began

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Still pond near the Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, Florida, with trees mirrored on the water in the quiet morning light.

Some places announce themselves with open doors, guided tours, and gift shops buzzing with voices.Others ask you to slow down, stand outside the gate, and listen harder. The Mission Nombre de Dios is one of those places. We arrived early—too early, as it turned out. The gates were still closed, the gift shop locked, and … Read more

The Forgotten German Church That Started My Obsession

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Front view of Holy Trinity Church in the Faubourg Marigny, an abandoned 19th-century German Catholic church with distinctive onion domes and worn brick façade.

Holy Trinity Church, New Orleans Some places don’t ask for attention.They wait for it. I wasn’t searching for abandoned buildings when I first saw Holy Trinity Church. I wasn’t researching forgotten history or chasing lost places yet. We had just left St. Patrick Cemetery, on our way to the 9th Ward. We were just in … Read more

The Chapel of Ease: Where Forgotten Friday Began

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Ruins of the St. Helena Parish Chapel of Ease on St. Helena Island, built in the 1740s from tabby and now standing abandoned beneath moss-covered trees.

It started with a name on a map. I was planning a road trip to Washington, D.C.—nothing spooky, nothing intentional. Just a long drive, a ten-year-old history buff in the passenger seat, and a tired driver trying to avoid highway hypnosis. To break up the drive, I used Roadtrippers to plot a few stops along … Read more